


the interpretation of dreams

by weekly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Light-Hearted, Love, M/M, No Manga Spoilers, Romantic Soulmates, atsumu is so whipped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24133240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weekly/pseuds/weekly
Summary: thank you for reading!
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Comments: 16
Kudos: 105





	the interpretation of dreams

If someone were to search the meaning of ‘dream’ they would find it to be nothing more than a set of thoughts, images that reproduce behind anyone's pupils and carry previously experienced sensations. But Atsumu didn’t think it was just that. He didn't want to. To him, dreaming is living an adventure, it’s making friends that will fade like steam at dawn, it’s traveling to wonderful places and being whoever you want to be without caring about anything else.  
Sometimes Atsumu wants to sleep for days and forget about the world for a while.

It’s not that there’s something wrong with him, in fact, it’s quite the contrary. At his twenty years he is lucky enough to have a roof over his head, friends and a loving family, he attends university. He has options and opportunities. Despite this, Miya Atsumu is sick of it. His life is but a monotonous timeline devoid of highs and lows. Eventually he grew tired of it the same way he grows tired of everything around him. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply that he wants to put an end to it, he’s just bored.

It is because of the boredom he loathes to the core, that he wants to stay on a dreaming state, where great feats are part of everyday life and there is no such thing as ‘the impossible’. Unfortunately, he is in this world, in the same reality as another seven billion people, waiting to be rescued from his misery. In the meantime, he keeps his head on the clouds, dreaming with open eyes dreaming with open eyes of the ocean blue and a ship whose compass only points to an adventure.

. . .

_The snow was falling so slowly that it almost seems suspended in midair. Everything was covered in a thin layer of white, from the tree branches of the park he found himself at to the children's play area in the distance. It was Christmas, he could tell by the lights hanging between the lanterns and the decorations of the houses near the park. Nevertheless, that doesn’t seem like one of his dreams, he may even consider that it doesn’t seem like a dream, to begin with._   
_Walking the snow-cleared gravel path, Atsumu tries to recognize something around him to no avail. Most people have no faces and those who do, are complete strangers. Gradually he gets bored. “This wasn’t what I had in mind.” he spoke to himself. Only then does he spot something —or rather someone— that catches his eye. Several meters in front of Atsumu stands a boy with orange hair, looking at him clearly puzzled. The feeling was mutual. Neither of them looked away from each other, scrutinizing the other’s face and trying to find the meaning of such a situation. In the distance, the boy looked shorter than him, with a small complexion and overgrown, messy strands of hair that pointed everywhere._

_The redhead decided to be the one to break the ice, rising his hand and waving it in greeting. Atsumu returned the greeting; feeling curious about the boy, he decided to approach him, however, when he was about to reach him, he ran away. “Wait!” he exclaimed, chasing after the stranger. The snow under his feet kept him from running as fast but he didn't give up. As best he could, he managed to shorten the distance between them to what appeared to be a couple of meters. Right when he thought he would had him at the tips of his fingers, he realized that they had left the park and reached the street, where the loud cry of a klaxon caught his attention. The headlights of a car rapidly approaching him were the last thing he saw before his vision went pitch black._

He jerked awake in his room, his heart hammered against his ribs and his head was spinning. He brought his hands to his head carefully and glanced quickly at the clock on his nightstand, it was two in the morning. Many questions bursted out in Atsumu’s subconscious, some like ‘what the hell happened?’ or ‘what was that place?’ but the one that most intrigued him was ‘who was that boy?’

. . .

Nothing was ever the way it was before.

For some reason, Atsumu keeps seeing the same orange haired boy in his dreams — always from afar, given that when he tries to get closer, he runs away. It has become their game, like the cat that puts all his effort into catching the escaping mouse, with the difference that this mouse is not afraid of him at all.  
During the day, Atsumu is lost in his thoughts —at least more than usual—, wondering if it’s possible to dream of someone that often, even if he tries not to. He also wondered if that boy was a product of his subconscious because he couldn't be real, could he?

Atsumu thought he was finally going bonkers, so he decided to do something that only a lunatic would do.

“Are you real?”

The boy looked at him as if he had said the funniest thing he’s ever heard and burst out laughing. “Of course I’m real!” he exclaimed in the distance with a smile. A part of Atsumu wished he was more than pulling bad tricks on him, that’s why his words gave him a little satisfaction. The blonde had another question, but he felt uneasy all of a sudden, the words were stuck in his throat and struggled to get out. “If” the boy added. “you want to know who I am, you’ll have to catch me.” He doesn't even bother to think about his question again —‘how is it possible that two people can meet in his dreams?’—, he was very busy concentrating on the other's mischievous gaze before he started running again. Either way, Atsumu continues trying to catch him relentlessly; he's determined to find out who the cute boy of his dreams is.  
Even if he doesn’t admit he thinks he’s cute.

. . .

During the day, whilst the sun reigns over the mortal world, Miya Atsumu commits to the same common tasks as the rest of us. Education, chores, social life. The typical. But when night falls and it is the moon that opens the door to the land of dreams, he is free to reach for the stars.

Particularly this day was not being to his liking. He woke up late, given that he had been too busy dreaming of a certain boy with soft features to listen to the annoying noise of his alarm clock, so by the time he finally abandoned the comfort of his sheets, he tormented himself about how late he would be to his classes, not to mention the ride on public transport. It had been too much hustle only to be informed that his first two classes were canceled, which means he’ll have to wait two hours to attend to his only class for today.

By the time he returned home he was tired, grumpy, and eager to see an specific someone. Atsumu knew he had to take care of the rest of his responsibilities, nevertheless, he couldn't get the boy off his mind, he was excited —dying to, I dare to say— to see him again. Therefore, while the shining sun was at the top of the sky, he opened the door leading to dream land himself to search without avail for the boy of his dreams.  
It was a pity that he fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon because when the stars woke up and it was his turn to rest, he was wide awake, wandering aimlessly around his apartment, cursing under his breath and muttering to himself what an idiotic idea it was to nap until night.  
Now he will have to bear the consequences as he has ruined his sleeping schedule.

. . .

A week later Atsumu seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep anywhere. His friends asked him if he was okay, his brother, Osamu, laughed at his faces when they met that afternoon to have lunch together because ‘he looked dead’ and it seems that was funny. Although he doesn’t deny that he looks awful. Ever since he ruined his sleep schedule to try to meet the boy of his dreams again, he has not had a good night's sleep, thus the previous night he decided to pull an all-nighter so that he can get to sleep at a decent time for the first time in days.

When he finally got to his apartment, he pondered the pros and cons of dropping himself on the floor and sleeping there until the next day while taking off his shoes at the entrance. His entire body weighted more than normal, it took his eyelids a few seconds to reopen after each blink… 'exhausted' was not enough to describe Atsumu's burnout, he didn't even think about the redhead anymore, at this point he just wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible. He went to the kitchen and stood in front of the refrigerator, checking inside it what he could have for dinner. He didn’t want to use the stove because he feared he’d suffer from brain death and that he would fall face flat on the pan, so he took the last of the frozen pizzas and threw it into the microwave.  
By the time he fell onto his bed, he had no idea if he had brushed his teeth or changed his clothes; he only knew that his sheets felt especially soft that day and that his mattress was his favorite thing at that moment.

_The cheerful cries of children and music were the easiest sounds to tell apart at the amusement park. There were lights of all colors decorating the food and game stands around him, which were parallel with one another so that they formed a path between them, in the distance he could make out different attractions and much larger rides. The blonde looked up at the sky, it began to turn orange, pink and purple, the weather wasn’t too cool but there was a bit of a breeze blowing here and there. People passed him by without paying much attention, everyone was focused in their own affairs, very happy to be there, and who wouldn't be? It was a summer festival. Atsumu looked around the place; some people have blurred faces and others not so much. The bustle of the crowd around him ceased to silence when his gaze fell on a certain short boy that was already staring straight at him; he approached him without haste._   
_“You finally decided to show up.” the boy said as a greeting with a smirk. Atsumu didn’t know if it was the effect of the soft evening light or the way his hair looked so fluffy he wanted to tousle it with his fingers, but he couldn’t ignore that he looked pretty._

_“Missed me much?” Atsumu cooed, smiling teasingly, to which he wrinkles his nose in a disapproving gesture. The blonde only laughed. His laugher didn’t last long as a mischievous smile spread across the shorter's face._

_"Catch me and find out." he said, his brown gaze fixed on his own._

_Excitement settled in Atsumu's stomach at the same time that he felt the tips of his ears heat up. In less time than he expected, the boy runs through the crowd in an attempt to disappear from his sight and he did not waste another second before chasing after him. His eyes never averted from him and every single excited giggle the boy he was chasing after let out reached his ears._   
_He had definitely missed this part of his day._

. . .

_It was a cold, autumn night, the cool wind made him shiver even if he wore a jacket over a thick sweater. Standing on the asphalt of a deserted street, Atsumu took a glance at his surroundings, meeting with a nice neighborhood, large houses with well-kept gardens; some even had a bicycle or toys left outside. He thought it would be a good family neighborhood if not for the disturbing lack of lighting. It looked familiar but he couldn’t quite place it. He started walking a bit, wanting to explore the place in search of his... friend? Atsumu wasn’t sure about calling him that way, he had not even the slightest idea if it would bother him if he called him his friend… the word itself sounds kind of odd when it was addressed to someone who he did not know what to call since he doesn’t know his name. “I should get him a nickname.” he said to himself as he kicked a rock on his way._

_As if it was right on cue, light but quick footsteps resonated behind Atsumu, when he turned around, he was surprised to see the orange haired boy running as fast as he had ever seen in his direction. “What...?”_

_“Run, you stupid dumbass!” he yelled as he passed him without stopping. The taller’s gaze lingered on him a few seconds before looking back over his shoulder and feel the color drain from his face. ‘That’s why it looked familiar.’ At least some thirty horrible, gaunt and filthy zombies were running in his direction ready to eat him. Hearing that characteristic guttural sound of theirs made him come to his senses and move his feet in front of one another until he ran perhaps faster than when he tries to catch up with his dream boy, who was running several meters in front of Atsumu. He laughed, finding the situation hilarious, for some reason._

_The shorter one looked at him incredulously, dropping his pace so Atsumu could catch up. “Is this funny to you?!”_

_“Yeah!” he giggled._

_“What the hell is wrong with you?” he muttered before shaking his head. “Fine! If they catch up with us I will throw you at them as a distraction and run away from here!”_

_Atsumu didn't bother to swallow another laugh. However, the sound of his laughter drowned in the distorted voices of the monsters behind them. The whimper the boy beside him let out felt like a cue for Atsumu to grab his wrist and sprint away from there. Atsumu took a shortcut between two houses and led them through backyards for several blocks until they lost the crowd that was chasing them. They were lucky to found a garage to hide in once the taller rolled the garage door closed._

_With a heavy sigh, he turned, and in the darkness he saw the boy sitting against the wall, resting, catching his breath. Atsumu, also too agitated, with shaky legs, approached and squatted beside him. Their heavy breathing was the only thing they could hear, the garage wasn’t very big, adding to it the large amount of junk stored there it seemed even smaller._

_“This should count as catching you.”_

_"Don't even dream about it." Atsumu chuckled and he grunted, but smiled nonetheless. "No pun intended, though."_

_Atsumu's brown eyes locked on the boy to his right as he watched something in front of him. Despite the fact that the lighting was limited to the little moonlight creeping through the garage windows, it glowed gently over the redhead’s features, allowing Atsumu to detail his profile, his pretty big eyes, soft cheeks and small nose. This time he wore a simple thick navy blue sweater along with ripped jeans and a pair of dirty sneakers. Even when he had a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead, hair made a mess by the wind, out of breath and kind of pissed off, Atsumu couldn't stop thinking how cute he was. Suddenly, he gazed back at him, startling him a little. “Can't you just make them disappear?” he asked. It took the blonde a couple of seconds to realize he was referring to the dead._

_“No.” his answer sounded almost like a question, for he did not understand how he could do such a thing._

_“You need to learn to control your dreams.”_

_“Can you do it?”_

_“No, but you definitely have to learn how to do it to spare me going into cardiac arrest!”_

_Other than their own voices, none could perceive another sound coming from nowhere. If Atsumu remembered correctly, they didn’t have much time left before they were found so they have to hurry. “Come, let's search this mountain of garbage for something we can defend ourselves with.” he nodded his head towards a pile of boxed as he stood up. “There must be a tennis racket around here…” he rummaged inside a box and blurted out a ‘ha!’ when he found what he was looking for, hoisting it up into the air._

_“How did you know…?” the shorter asked, perplexed._

_“Oh,” turning to see him over his shoulder. He shrugged. “I already had this dream before.” he explained simply._

_The boy looked at him with a blank expression for a second before beginning to rummage inside another box. He could hear him mumble under his breath something like 'he can repeat his dreams but not control them, what the hell?' and he did his best to hold back his laughter. After a few minutes, the redhead found a real baseball bat in a huge box filled with toys, which he was swinging around to test its weight on his hands._

_Seeing him, Atsumu pulled a black baseball cap from one of the boxes that he checked a while ago to put it on the shorter’s head. “Now you're a professional player,” he flashed him a smile. “ready for nationals?”_

_“More like ready to kick some zombies.” he corrected with a smile, holding the bat with one hand and pointing at the door with it as if it were as light as a feather. Atsumu’s heart may or may not have skipped a beat. ‘I must have a thing for athletes.’ he thought and averted his gaze from him._

_The rustling of leaves and distorted grunts were heard, growing louder as they approached, alerting both boys that time was up. It was now or never. Atsumu unlocked the door leading to the inside of the house with a swift move and the two of them ran all the way to the front door so that they don’t meet face to face with the zombies immediately, but they create the opportunity to wait for them. The taller expected to encounter a pair of corpses when he opened the front door and was able to hit them with his racket just in time, ripping their heads off and leaving their lifeless bodies on the porch. His dream boy, who was closely following him, jumped on the beheaded bodies as he exited the door and positioned himself beside Atsumu, alert, his eyes wide open to catch any movement within his visual field._

_The dead didn't waste any time and went for them. They were many, even more than those who followed them before they hid in the garage. It was about to be a tough one._

_Both Atsumu and the redhead took on the offensive, attacking every monster that jumped in front of them and watching each other's back, but they were too many monsters and there was only two of them. It was a matter of time before they were surrounded and inevitably separated by the multitude of smelly beings. The shorter hit the heads of the dead as if they were an easy ball thrown by a crappy pitcher and he was the best batter in a lineup made out of pros, making his way through the crowd to an abandoned car in the middle of the street to get on the roof of it._

_The blonde watched him from the corner of his eye every chance he’s got, turning his body so that he stayed within his visual field whilst defending himself with the racket in his hands. The adrenaline ran through his veins with such speed that he didn't feel the slight pain in his muscles with each kick and blow he gave. Atsumu noticed a corpse approaching from behind the boy, who, in turn, had his back on Atsumu. “Dream boy!” he called._

_The aforementioned turned around, with plenty of time to send Atsumu a look before delivering a crushing kick on the jaw to the zombie who clumsily tried to climb the side of the car to get to him. “Really? That’s what you’re gonna call me?” he inquired loudly to make himself heard over the noise as he continued to kill zombies left and right. “Right now, I hate you for making me go through this!” he said with a snarl, gripping hard at his bat. “I could be having a nice rest! But no, I’m here, fighting these ugly monsters because of you! I would love to kick you instead of these zombies!” Atsumu thinks he shouldn’t feel endearment by being threatened... and yet._

_“Well, aren’t you cute when you get upset?” he said looking at him, smug smile on his face, as he killed another zombie._   
_With his bat, he ripped off the head of one of the corpses that tried to climb the car and then pointed it at him. "Shut up!" Atsumu thought he saw a little blush dusting his cheeks._

_They kept fighting until they were the only ones left. Eventually, the corpses stopped coming and the ones around them ended up sprawled on the floor, decapitated and unmoving. The fighting was done. Exhausted, Atsumu dropped the racket on the floor and approached the car, resting his foot on the bumper and holding out his hand for the shorter to help him up. The two of them stood on the roof of the car and saw the sun began to peek over the horizon and the sky slowly paint itself gold and yellow to receive a new day._

_“You have to admit it was fun.” Atsumu said after catching his breath._

_The boy looked up at him. The rays of the sun gently caressed his face and crept into the brown of his eyes, simulating a small dawn in his pupil. “I won't.” he said, however, it showed in his bright gaze, in his flushed cheeks, in his irregular breathing. His dream boy had fun. Atsumu smiled at him, he opened his mouth with the intention of saying something, but suddenly the sunlight was too bright in his eyes, blinding him and making the world around him blur until he couldn't make out any shapes and his sight went white._

He woke up in his bed, dressed in the clothes he wore yesterday, without any sheets covering his body and his blinds rolled up, allowing the sun to shine over his eyes with all its might. Regardless of having been pulled out from his dream world, he smiled at the ceiling once the fogginess of his eyes dissipated. He recalled his dream, the fun he had there and how nice it was to have his dream boy around again.  
Miya Atsumu started his day in the best possible mood.

. . .

Sitting at the coffee table in his apartment, Atsumu typed on his laptop incessantly. There were thick, open books spread across the table, accompanied by study guides, sheets of paper, a few pens and a Coca-Cola can. As a psychology major, his main task was to read and read until he no longer could, to soak his mind with concepts created by those who left this world long before he could think of existing. Usually this wasn't much of a challenge for him as he found it easy to concentrate on studying diligently... however, lately there was something that kept his mind much further from reality than before, or rather someone. A few days ago, it was four months since the first time Atsumu's cute dream boy came into his life, or should I say mind?

The blonde shook his head and really tried to pay attention to the paragraph before reading it for the sixth time. Even though it was nice to think of messy orange hair and to feel the tickling in his stomach while imagining the boy's bright eyes, Atsumu knew that he must study for him exams. He couldn’t afford to be slacking off right now, so he used all of his willpower to focus on the article he was reading, this time for real. Atsumu’s mind cooperated with him for about an hour before wandering back around the land of soft thoughts like 'will his hair be as soft as it looks?' or 'how small would his hands look if I held them?' and without previous notice, his insides became a pool of mushy goo.

Atsumu brought his hands up to his eyes, making a little pressure, and dropped carefully backwards. He put his hands away and covered his eyes with his arm after a moment. Lying on the floor of his living room, he filled his lungs with fresh air before letting it out again in a heavy sigh, coupled with a grumble.

“Why is he so cute?” he complained.

His studying long forgotten.

. . .

He dragged himself down the barely empty hall, his shoulders slumped, his brow furrowed, and a pout on his lips. He just got out of his first exam of the day, unsure if he would even pass it. ‘This is his fault’ he thought of a certain smiley boy. A few meters away he spotted a man leaning on a wall, he was busy with his gaze fixed on the screen of his phone, his usual mask now pulled under his chin. Atsumu guided his dejected self towards him.

“Omi-kun.” he whined as he got closer. Sakusa just looked up with a bored expression.

“How much of a failure are you?” the raven haired inquired flatly as he pocketed his phone with one hand, since he was holding a folder with the other one.

“The biggest.” Sakusa just hummed. “How did it go for you?” he handed him the heavy folder he carried. When he opened it, he found Sakusa's portfolio, which had around fifteen samples of his photographic work, not that Atsumu knew anything about photography, but seeing what he was capable of doing with a camera makes him think that Sakusa has talent. Running his gaze through each of the photos, he thinks he recognizes one of them as one of the times the three of them went out together, with the colored lights of the streets of Tokyo as the protagonists of the image and two boys with their backs to the camera, standing still amidst the rapid movement of passersby on the streets. He didn’t comment on it, but the fact that it was an impromptu shot and managed to look that good spoke for itself.

“I haven't handed it yet, I still have a couple hours until then.” he explained when his portfolio was returned to him and before Atsumu could ask, so he just nodded.

For several minutes, they immersed in a light conversation. Going from trivialities of everyday life, passing through college affairs —making a special mention of a gossip that Atsumu heard in a corridor and that he told to Sakusa in a particular snakey fashion while Sakusa tried not to punch him to make him shut up— until someone interrupted them.

“Hey!” Bokuto greeted them excitedly and smiling very big, dragging over the letter ‘e’ as he got closer. “How did your exams go?”

The smile on Atsumu's face fell instantly. "Bo-kun..." he whined again, remembering that he was destined to become his family's disgrace because of his terrible performance on his exam.

“Sensitive topic.” Sakusa announced after seeing the confused expression on his friend’s face. “How did yours go?”

“Great! I don't understand why everyone was so scared about that final, it was very easy! I think I'll get the best grade.”

The taller scoffed. “Even Bokuto did better than you.” he said to Atsumu, making him whine a little louder.

The conversation flowed once again, between jokes and ironic comments. For a moment, Atsumu thought about his dream boy and how well he would get along with his two friends. He could imagine him jumping excitedly and messing around with Bokuto for any reason possible and, even though he’s not the number one fan of the idea, he could also imagine him helping Sakusa make Atsumu’s life a living hell for the sake of having a little fun at his expense. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. 'I really want to see him.' he thought. Once again, he wandered off and that recurring question appeared in his mind, out of pure impulse asked his friends: “Hey, do you think it's possible to dream of people you don't know?”

“Yeah?”

"I mean, I've read that when you dream of people you don't know it's just people's faces you've seen before but you don't pay enough attention, like when you walk around the streets and such." Sakusa said.

“Yes, yes, but I mean more... vivid dreams, where you interact with that person and everything feels so real that you don't realize you're asleep until you open your eyes.”

Bokuto stared at him with a curious look. Sakusa frowned.

“...Are you doing drugs? Is that what you do to get some decent sleep ever since that one week you went around sleep deprived?”

Atsumu rolled his eyes at his taller friend. “Forget it. Both of you.”  
A small silence settled between them for a minute before the oldest of the three jumped between them and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. “I don't know anything about dreams, but we can go for ice cream and I will tell you about a modern history essay that I’m writing." he suggested with a smile, squeezing them in a half hug.

“Okay but no ranting about history.”

“Could you please refrain from touching me?”

The two of them talked at the same time, their words clashed a little so Bokuto ignored them as he made them walk towards the campus' gate.

Sitting at a table inside an ice cream shop, Sakusa's portfolio caught Bokuto's attention, so he let him see it as he did with Atsumu earlier. Now, Atsumu made a big effort not to chuckle as Bokuto looked over every photograph, because he was sure he'd say something and Sakusa would make a face.

“They're really good!” said the older with eyes widened in wonder as he kept on looking. The blonde looked at him expectantly. “Hey! Are those Atsumu and me in this one?”

“No.” Sakusa said and ripped his portfolio out of his hands, careful enough not to damage it, harsh enough to make a point.

Atsumu let out a laugh as the raven haired boy scowled at him.

That night, back in his apartment and having accepted his fate of failing in his career and being disinherited by his family, Atsumu turned off the light in his room, made himself comfortable, wrapped himself in his favorite blanket and he got ready to watch a bunch of his favorite movies. However, when he opened a new tab, he froze, staring at the cursor blink back to him. He recalled something from earlier that day, the question he asked his friends that remained without an answer he was satisfied with. Considering that the internet is a vast network of knowledge and information, his fingers moved over the keys as he typed out his question. At first, he only found unpromising fictional stories about encounters of people in their dreams and blogs dedicated to writing prompts for such fictional stories. Exasperation started building up inside him, he was sick of not having a clue about his… situation. He doesn't consider it a problem, much less wanted it to end just yet but curiosity was eating him alive.

As if his prayers were heard, the next page he clicked loaded almost instantly, revealing a dense article talking about soulmates. Atsumu frowned as his gaze fell on the words “soulmates”, feeling strangely interested while a strange warmth spread inside his chest. In these paragraphs, the author talks about various ways in which soulmates can get to know each other, how they manifest in the lives of their partner, and the experiences of some people. A shiver ran up his spine as he read about the kind of soulmates that meet in dreams, although the author did not delve into it, they mentioned that the dream encounters were constant, in some cases people don’t interact, acting as secondary characters of their partner’s dreams, while in others they could interact in any way.

The boy's eyes were blown wide when he had finished reading. “Soul...mates…” he uttered in a small voice, too shocked to make his voice louder than a whisper. “He’s… my...” he closed his mouth shut, pinching his lips together before finishing his sentence. Atsumu closed his laptop, tossed it away and dropped onto his pillow, deciding he’s had enough internet for a week and tried to fall asleep with a deep blush staining his cheeks.

. . .

Despite his reaction to his discovery of soulmates, Atsumu was not overly affected by it, excluding the occasional minor crisis. Things go slow, and somehow another month passed by in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. Another month in which Atsumu has more opportunities to get to know the boy of her dreams in depth, more opportunities in which he can walk inside his dreams and he in his own. They were able to seeing and getting to know some of the most intimate parts of their lives, something as private as the dreams and the experiences lived within them are shared by both, getting to know their silliest fears and their deepest yearnings by experiencing them on first hand.

All Atsumu could say is that he was smitten.

For most of his life, the time to go to sleep, that allowed him to dream of so many universes in which his life was more interesting, has been his most awaited hour of the day. However, that reason has changed by a pair of brown eyes that shine with stars in his pupils and a smile that beams like sunshine. There's nothing Atsumu enjoys more than being with that boy, chasing after him, spending time with him, making him laugh and then getting a tiny push on his shoulder because 'your jokes are awful!' he’d said between laughs, he could sometimes see a blush appear on his dream boy’s cheeks after he dared to be a little flirty. He had Atsumu wrapped around his finger and he still didn’t know his name...

But that didn't have to discourage him, it wasn't going to. They had a deal, once Atsumu catches him, all his questions will find his long awaited answer.

For now, he enjoyed getting to know the places his dream boy dreamed of, they were all places he had been to before, like his neighborhood, a park, a volleyball court, his school. If there was anything he had enjoyed, it was running through the halls of his school, crashing in the middle of a class and startling everyone just because the shorter entered the classroom trying to escape him only to leave a minute later, laughing all the way to the next classroom. Even in Atsumu's dreams, which were full of unexpected events, they kept on doing their own thing. Coming across fantastic animals that didn’t exist in the real world, losing themselves in a forest or running around an island. That dream gave him mixed feelings. Running around a grassy beach, Atsumu was about to catch the boy, not even the sand under his feet could slow down his steps, he ran as fast as his legs would allow him to and reached out to grab the boy’s wrist, just a few inches left… when a sharp pain in his right leg prevented him from continuing, he fell to his knees, the pain intensifying.

He woke up in the middle of the night due to a cramp in his right leg, caused by the cold, as it was his only limb sticking out of his sheets. He cursed through his teeth, not sure if it was because of the pain of his leg or because he got a cramp when he was so painfully close to catching his dream boy. Probably a little bit of both. Though he thought it was worth it the next night when the orange haired boy greeted him with a worried look, making him flush slightly with a lot of questions like 'what happened to you?' and 'but are you okay now?' —even if it didn't last after Atsumu explained what happened and he chose to tease him about his 'little cramp’, he appreciated it.

. . .

_Darkness surrounded him when he opened his eyes. Standing in the middle of a deserted corridor, Atsumu realized he was in a house; the corridor in front of him has some doors leading to bedrooms and picture frames hanging from the walls. He started to walk slowing, taking in the appearance of the place. The wooden floor creaked a little as he walked. All of the doors were closed but one, it was wide open and gave him a good look inside from the threshold. The room was a small one, harboring an individual bed with a stuffed animal on it, some toys laying on the floor and children books neatly arranged in a small shelf. It looked like It belonged to a child, yet it was so tidy and neat that he doubted for a second it was even used. Atsumu moved on from there, directing his gaze to the pictures on the walls, they were very blurry, almost unrecognizable, but if he squinted and tried hard enough he could find four human figures in them, they looked like family photos, with two parents and two children. In the darkness of the corridor, he thinks he caught a glimpse of orange hair. Was it his dream? The atmosphere in the house was strange, even if it looked normal, there was something beneath. Why was it so dark and quiet if it was a family home? Why where the photos hiding the people in them? What about the room? He had an odd feeling in his gut, something was not right._

_Atsumu resumed his walking again, picking up his pace as he approached the end of the corridor. He turned to the left on the corner and met with a dark, empty living room, further into the house he saw light bleed out from one of the rooms. He moved towards it at the speed of light and found a man and a younger version of his dream boy, with his eyes flooded with tears as the man shouted unintelligible things at him, standing in the middle of the kitchen. The yelling was horrifying although he couldn’t understand a single word. The child was shaking; his wobbly legs were barely supporting him and the terrified expression on his face sent a shiver up Atsumu’s back. How couldn’t he heard this from the corridor? The blonde felt the air leave his lungs once he noticed the boy behind them, petrified and frightened with his eyes fixed on the child. He was there, watching his nightmare go on from the sidelines, unable to move and do something about it. It made Atsumu sick to his stomach._

_Suddenly, and so unfortunately, the tears that the child tried to retain in his eyes finally spilled. Everyone in the room froze for a second before the man’s face reddened and his pupils burned with rage, he lifted his arm, his palm hanging in the air and the poor child flinched and covered his face with his little hands, waiting for the blow to land. His dream boy’s eyes widened in fear and Atsumu ran to protect the child and stop the man but both of them vanished into thin air when he touched them. The other boy’s eyes looked at him for the first time with a glint of shock and dread in them. The taller didn’t wait any longer to grab his wrist and take him out, opening the door to the backyard and walking into the night breeze, they made a beeline across the grass to a big tree, next to which was a wooden bench. Atsumu made the boy sat in it as he crouched in front of him._

_None of them said a word until the redhead did. His gaze fixed on his hands resting on his lap, not wanting to look at Atsumu in the eye. “For how long did you see?” he asked almost inaudibly._

_“A while.” Atsumu murmured back. Silence stretched between them once more, but they didn’t speak again. A couple minutes passed liked that, with the boy’s eyes locked on his hands and the blonde gazing up at him, but soon after, he bent over to rest his forehead on Atsumu’s shoulder. The taller’s chest heaved when he felt rather than heard his dream boy let out a shaky breath coupled with warm tears that wetted his shirt. Atsumu lifted one of his hands to pet his hair as more quiet sobs made their way out of his throat, his other hand made its way to the shorter’s lap to hold his hands, he felt him squeeze it and kept on petting his hair softly while he cried. This was such a contrast to his dream boy’s usual behavior. ‘His eyes are supposed to gleam every time he smiled instead of flood with tears, he’s supposed to laugh and laugh for a reason or another instead of shaking with every sob.’ Atsumu thought with abhor. Every single sob of his tugging painfully at his heartstrings._

_They stayed like that for what feels like an eternity squashed into a few minutes before they both woke up._

It was thirty past two in the morning when Atsumu woke up, lying on his back, his eyes slowly fluttering open. The aching in his chest remained from the dream he just woke up from… no, the nightmare he just woke up from. He lifted his right hand in the air so he could see it, it was odd, he swore he could still feel the softness of his hair in his fingertips. The memories of the whole thing rushed into his mind and with his arm, he covered his eyes, he had to close them and take deep breaths to keep himself from shedding some tears too.

. . .

For the next two days, none of his dreams included the smiley boy that had been showing up in them for the past six months.

. . .

For two nights and three days Atsumu went around feeling worried sick, not knowing what happened to his dream boy, if he was okay and, since he had no way to contact him, it was driving him crazy. Perhaps his distress about it was evident enough, being that Sakusa asked him if everything was okay with him. He offered a smile to his friend and told him he was fine, waving a hand to downplay about it. The last thing he wanted was to worry his friends. Even so, if he actually wanted to talk to them about it, what could he say? Because coming up to them and saying ‘Hey, guys, you know I’ve been dreaming about this one boy that's not a product of my imagination and is most likely my soulmate for about six months now, right? Well, it's been three days since I last saw him and it was a very disturbing nightmare about his childhood and I don't know how to contact him or any way of knowing he's fine, what should I do?’ didn't sound like a good plan, at all.

Sighing heavily, he covered himself with his sheets, frowning at the ceiling. “If you don't show up, I’m kicking you, no matter how cute you are.” he threatened aloud, before closing his eyes and surrendering to the soft embrace of sleep wrapping around him.

_The next thing he knew, he was sitting across the very protagonist of all his worried thoughts. His eyes widened at the sight of him, struck by a mix of relief, surprise and yearn to squeeze him for making him so, so, worried. The boy looked back at him, then teared his eyes from him to somewhere beside him, looking sheepish. “Hey.” he said awkwardly._

_Atsumu grumbled. “You disappear for two nights and all you say is ‘hey’?!” he frowned. “I was worried, you know?” he spoke gently, trying to keep his hands to himself, ignoring the urge to wrap the smaller boy in a hug. He kept quiet, so Atsumu chose to take a look at the place they found themselves in. They were sailing across a river on a wooden boat, it wasn't a narrow vessel yet it was almost too small for both of them, pointed at the front and flat at the rear with no seats so they were sitting on its floor. They floated several meters above the bottom as the stream led them along idly. On both sides next to them lays a vast forest, with plants and trees of all kinds and beautiful, vivid shades of green. It all made up a wonderful landscape._

_“I’m sorry, okay?” the redhead furrowed his brows and his eyes met Atsumu’s, speaking quietly as if exchanging a secret. “I was… scared and embarrassed.”_

_“You don’t have to be, not with me.” he offered him a comforting smile. “And you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, it’s fine—”_

_“No,” he interrupted, with a determined look in his eyes. “I feel like I should tell you.” the words died in Atsumu’s mouth, he looked serious and willing to share this part of him with the blonde. Even if there is, without a doubt, a yearning within him to know as much as he can about this boy, he wouldn’t come nearly close to force him into sharing something that he would regret later, however, the resolve emanating from him made his heart pound against his ribs. Then, his dream boy engaged in a story about his childhood, about how his father used to hit him behind his mother’s back because the man thought he was too small, weak and a useless excuse of a son. At first, his mother thought he was bullied by other kids at school and that he didn’t want to tell her, eventually, he was forced to change schools. Nevertheless, the scratches and bruises kept on marking his skin for months afterwards. It wasn’t until one day she found her husband beating the poor nine year old kid up that everything clicked in her mind. “After that my parents divorced, my mom got a restriction order and I went to therapy.” he concluded. “It was ten years ago and I’m fine now but… sometimes I— it comes back in nightmares and it’s really scary.”_

_Despite he didn’t get into much detail, Atsumu felt sick and angry and the fact that he can’t do anything about it made him feel worse, he hated feeling impotent. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that and it makes me so….” he uttered with clenched fists and gaze lowered. “mad.” he finished in a mumble. He took a deep breath before whipping his head up. “You know none of those things he said are true, right?”_

_The shorter stared at him with intense eyes, scrutinizing every part of his face. It’s most likely there’s a blush creeping up his neck but Atsumu won’t be the one to break the eye contact. Then the boy's lips stretch in a smile with such emotion he couldn't fully grasp the meanings of. “I do.”_

_Their conversation flowed and drifted away from the topic after a while. They had plenty of other things to talk about. They talked about themselves, about their siblings — Atsumu told him about his twin brother and he told him he has a little sister —and learned both of them loved their siblings to death even if they can drive them crazy sometimes—, about their high school days, about a movie they watched recently and how good it was, about something funny one of their friends said... they talked a lot before they got to the subject of dreams._

_"Do you always have such..." he trailed off as he thought how to put it in words._

_"Amazing? Incredible? Extraordinary?" Atsumu prompted._

_"...hectic dreams?" he giggled when the taller fake glared at him. "What? I'm trying to be nice here!"_

_“Where did you even learn that word from?” he wanted to tease him and succeeded when the boy smacked his leg, uttering ‘I’m not dumb’ with a pout on his lips. "Yeah, most of the time at least. It's fun to have adventures and be the hero even if it's in your own imagination." he answered the question and glanced around. “Thought this one seems different from the rest of my dreams.”_

_“That's because it's mine.” the blonde's mouth formed an 'o' in understanding. “Though it's weird, I usually dream of my memories and not something my mind makes up from scratch...”_

_"You what? Do you dream of your own memories? I don't mean to offend you, but isn't that kind of boring? How do you survive that?"_

_“Sometimes I feel like my life has had enough highs and lows, I want to have some peace from time to time.” he said simply. "How do you survive your dreams?"_

_He groaned. “My life is so boring! Nothing interesting or amazing happens, ever! I wish I could dream forever.” he pouted a tiny bit._

_The orange haired boy rolled his eyes and smiled a tiny smile. “I bet it isn't, you only need to look at it from a better angle.” his eyes glinted with something and, in a second, it was gone. ‘How could a pair of eyes convey so much emotion?’ Atsumu often wondered. He had the feeling that his dream boy had the power to make you feel whatever he wanted to convey by throwing a glance your way, and if it were to be too complex, you would hate being so naïve to not understand it. It’s like his eyes could shine with every answer to any question ever made but the answers could go from a single syllable word to the hardest of riddles if he wanted, making you drown in his irises if you tried to understand the meaning. And, heaven, if Atsumu wasn't ready to take a dive in that sea of brown and golden._

_“Talking about dreams,” Atsumu said after a short while. “What did you do to avoid sleeping the past two nights?”_

_“I learned the art of controlling the flow of energy in my body to absorb energy from the environment and not have to sleep for fifty hours.” he sat cross-legged with his hands on his knees and eyes closed, adopting the position of meditation. The taller gave him a look, which he must've felt because he opened one eye right after. “I slept all day and stayed up all night. Don't judge me.”_

_“You really didn't want to talk to me, huh?”_

_“I already apologized about that.” he whined a little. “I wasn't going to sleep tonight either but then I talked to my friends and they said I should talk it out with you—”_

_“Wait, you talked to your friends about me?”_

_“…yeah.” When he saw Atsumu’s expression, he frowned. “Of course I didn’t mention the part in which I only get to see you here.” That brought back to Atsumu’s mind the time he almost told his friends about his dream boy, including the dreams part, so he told him about it. At the end of it, the boy jerked his head back to let out a laugh. “Why would you do that? They’d think you’re crazy!” he said between laughs. “You’re a dummy.”_   
_Atsumu wasn't sure if he imagined the fond look he had when he spoke the last part. He definitely didn't want to think about it either. He didn't yet how could he not? Everything about this dream was making his poor rabbit heart suffer, from the open, extended conversation with his dream boy to their tangled legs in front of them because of the lack of space and, to put a cherry on top of it, seeing him much better than the last time made Atsumu feel at ease. He let out a sigh full of soft (gross, in his opinion) feelings, discreetly. Driven by something greater than him, most likely the growing warmth in his heart, he spoke._

_“Atsumu.” the boy in front of him sent him a questioning look as he uttered a soft ‘huh?’ “That's my name, Atsumu.”_

_“Oh.” he said, blinking cutely. “Well, if you're going to tell me your name it doesn't make much sense I keep mine a secret anymore… mine's Shoyo.” he tucked his knees up to his chest. Atsumu practically beamed at him. Shoyo, Shoyo, Shoyo! It was such a cute name; he thought he'd combust on the spot. "I guess we're done with the chasing..." he dared to look gloomy while saying that. Cute._

_Atsumu straightened his back as an idea struck him, a lightbulb practically lighting up over his head. “Not necessarily,” he looked at Shoyo with a gleam in his eyes. “We can change the reason for it.” that caught his attention. “How about this. If I catch you, then you go out with me.”_

_The shorter's eyebrows shot up. “On a date?”_

_“A real date.”_

_Shoyo stared at him for a few seconds, the corner of his lips tugging upwards in a smug smile. “You must like me a lot.”_

_“In fact, yes.”_

_Atsumu was proud that, despite the issues Shoyo caused to his heart rate by saying that, he could reply just as smugly because seeing Shoyo's eyes widening a little more than usual and the blush that quickly tinting his cheeks was worthy. “Okay” he said._

. . .

_After that dream in particular, they became closer than ever. Some things between them experienced a small number of minor changes, such as the stares they shared sometimes that no longer hide feelings away or the (now) common sight of blush dusting their skin after a flirty comment was spoken. However, the best part is that Shoyo forgets about his nightmare sooner rather than later. It was relieving to see the small boy became lively again, with starry eyed and smiling big and bright without a care in the world, no more tears nor pain that tainted the joy of the sunshine boy._

_Now Atsumu’s only worry is his stupid, sensitive heart because Shoyo got used to call him 'Atsumu-san' and it wreaked havoc in his heart every single time his name fell of his lips. It can’t be healthy that his pulse stops that often, right? Yes, he was worried but he wouldn’t deny how much he loved hearing his own name spoken in his voice, the same way he loved calling him by his name all the time. “You're going to wear it out!” Shoyo said one day. Occasionally, Atsumu would call him ‘dream boy’ too, just to tease him a little. Atsumu believed he liked the nickname._

_In spite of the whole matter of feelings and the dizziness it elicits by liking someone, Atsumu hadn’t realized he was actually falling for Shoyo until tonight. While he chased after Shoyo around the beautiful halls of a castle, both dressed in fancy clothes and wearing each a golden and a silver crown, as they were both princes of different kingdoms. Atsumu’s cloak waves in the wind and Shoyo's laughter echoes on the high walls. “Where are my guards? They should throw you in a dungeon for chasing their prince!”_

_“I’m a prince too, thank you! They wouldn’t do that if they want to keep their heads joined to the rest of their bodies!”_

_“No doubt this prince business got to your head, Atsumu-san.” the shorter turns to face him whilst running backwards, flashing him a playful grin. “Your crown is falling, dumb prince!” he giggles and flaunts the good balance of his golden crown on his head, its gems glinting under the light as he turns his back to the blonde._

_Atsumu grunts and lifts his hand to hold his crown still without slowing his pace. “Shoyo-kun! How are you so fast?” he asks in a breathy voice. His dream boy only glances back at him over his shoulder and winks. That’s when he realizes, he doesn’t care a bit about how low he can fall as long as he has Shoyo waiting for him at the bottom._

. . .

_Music could be heard from the distance, as Atsumu approached the sound of the song he was sure was very popular some months ago, he notice the unfamiliar place as a party hall. From the outside, it looked smaller than the ones he’s seen at Tokyo but it was still big. He walked the gravel path that lead to the building when he noticed a rather small figure stood beside the door; he already knew who it was so he hurried his steps. Shoyo’s face brightened up when the taller reached him. Then he came to the realization he was wearing a suit, and Shoyo was too._

_“Am I late to the party?”_

_“Atsumu-san, what took you so long? It was boring waiting here for you, you know?” Atsumu saw him pout slightly and a smile tugged at his lips._

_“What if I was inside?”_

_Shoyo looked up at him. “Then this would’ve been awkward.”_

_Atsumu chuckled and before he could stop himself, his hand moved all the way up to the shorter’s hair and ran his fingers through it. He thought he'd freeze on the spot, not used to each other's touches, he thought Shoyo would push his hand away. What he didn't expect was that his dream boy actually smiled and leaned into the touch, allowing his fingers to tangle a bit in his orange locks as he gazed straight into his eyes. ‘Oh my god, this is too much... definitely too much... shit, my heart's going to explode.’_

_After Atsumu —reluctantly— put his hand away, they made their way into the hall. The music filled the space and there were lights of different colors shading every single spot, the slight murmur of conversations drowned in the melody despite all of the people attending the party were paralyzed, as if they were enjoining the whole thing and all of a sudden, time stopped for everyone but Shoyo and Atsumu. It was curious; these people did have recognizable faces unlike in most of Shoyo's dreams._

_“No wonder you’ve been bored, this song sucks!” Atsumu pointed out. "And of course, everyone here is frozen. But mostly because the song."_

_Shoyo laughed. “I know right? I’m glad it's not popular anymore.”_

_The two of them wandered around for a while so Atsumu could take a look at the place._

_“So? What kind of party is this?”_

_“It’s my graduation party.” Shoyo explained. “The girls from my class wanted to do something different so we rented a hall and dress nicely, some teachers came too... it was boring as hell.”_

_“How so?”_

_“My friends and I talked about going together as a group, but then Stingyshima asked my friend Yamaguchi to be his date and Yachi got a date too so it was me and Kageyama... until Yachi's date cancelled plans with her.” he frowned. “She was very sad and Kageyama panicked so he told her he'd go with her... and I ended up alone.” he sighed at the last part._

_“I talked with a lot of people that night but still it was boring.”_

_“That sucks. A lot.” Atsumu eyed what he thought was the dance floor before looking towards Shoyo. “And you didn't ask me to be your date, I’m basically crashing at this party, but you're going to have fun with me tonight.” That said, he grabbed his hand and lead them both among the 'statues' on the dance floor until he found a spot for them. Atsumu started dancing to whatever song came on, he wasn't the best dancer —he wasn't good at all—, and yet Shoyo smiled really big at him with that distinctive gleam in his eyes before joining him. They danced together, goofed around and laughed, playing a game of push and pull only they understood the rules of._

_A slower song came after perhaps half an hour, so Atsumu held out his hand for his dream boy. Shoyo and Atsumu shared a look, gazing into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity squashed into a few seconds, before the orange haired slid his hand in the bigger one in front of him. His right hand rested on the taller’s shoulder as his left was held, Shoyo intertwined his fingers with his and felt a hand snake its way around his waist. Leisurely, they moved along the soft melody coming out of the speakers. The blonde stared at Shoyo as if he was trying to memorize his every minimal detail, the way his long hair nearly brushed his eyes, the color of his irises, the shape of his lips, the soft look of his cheeks and the exact shade of crimson that dusted them when he blushed… engraving him his mind like he was a dream Atsumu was too afraid of forgetting once sunlight creeped inside his room and struck his eyes. The boy smiled at that, the thought of Atsumu being afraid of losing him warmed his heart and made it go a tad bit crazy between his ribs, but Atsumu didn’t need to worry, he was sure he wouldn’t go anywhere, at least not without putting up one hell of a fight first. Seeing Atsumu from up close was a new experience. With his gaze on him, Shoyo was too aware of the wreck going on in his heart and how it was getting more and more difficult to hide it — because whenever he felt Atsumu’s eyes land on him, he felt raw under the taller’s gaze, who seemed able to read his thoughts, roam around his insides and lay bare his soul as he liked it._

_“Shoyo-kun.” He spoke without stopping the swaying of their bodies. “A few weeks ago I came across a very interesting article.” The boy looked at him expectantly, so he filled his lungs with oxygen and gathered enough courage to tell him about what he read about soulmates, whether it was fake or not, he didn’t know, but the subject messed with his mind and he wanted to know what Shoyo thought. “What would thought if I told you, according to that article, you and I would be soulmates?” he said after he finished talking about the article._

_The smaller had his eyes lowered, Atsumu didn’t know what to do other than wait nervously for his answer, therefore he stood there, still, eyes locked on him. Then he jerked his chin up to look him in the eye. “I already knew.”_

_“HEH?!”_

_A blush crept up Shoyo's neck to his cheeks. He told Atsumu about this one time when he was younger, when his mom told him a story his grandmother used to tell her when she was a child. It was about how his grandmother met his grandfather, like them, in dreams before they found each other. His mother always thought it was a fantastical story the woman made up for her daughter, not knowing that the same thing was happening to her son._

_“Why didn’t you say anything?” Atsumu asked gently._

_Shoyo stood on the balls of his feet and wrapped his arms around Atsumu’s shoulders, pulling him even closer into a hug. He hid his face in the crook of his neck. “You never asked.” He replied bashfully and so, so quietly the taller almost missed it. “I assumed it but I couldn’t make sure, and maybe the fact that I want to be with you for longer every time we meet and be closer to you means something… I want to find out and know I was right.” Atsumu couldn’t help the smile that grew so wide on his lips it nearly broke his face and hugged Shoyo back, placing his hands on his back and feeling his smaller body press against his own._

_“That would be nice.”_

_They stayed like that, holding onto each other, for minutes, hours, perhaps days even… they wouldn’t know — time seemed to vanish from existence, it felt too real to be a dream and too wonderful to be reality. Somehow they were stuck somewhere in between those two realms, in a land only the two of them knew and they could call ‘theirs.’_

_“Atsumu-san.” The aforementioned hummed. “I don’t know how much time we have left until one of us wakes up… and I want to ask you something.”_

_“Anything.”_

_“Would you kiss me?”_

_The blonde’s stomach dropped, his heartbeat stalled, he died and was brought back to life in the span of a few seconds. Shoyo moved back, only a little, to gaze towards him with those gorgeous eyes of his. Atsumu cups his cheek with his hand and brushes his nose against Shoyo’s. “Only if you let me kiss you outside of a dream.”_

_“Of course.” he replied with a grin._

_Atsumu glanced into his eyes before his gaze fell to his lips; he was only a breath away, one millimeter left and his lips brushed against his own, a tilt of his chin and he was kissing him. It was a soft, sweet and brief kiss that lasted for a couple seconds before pulling away. Atsumu thought a chaste, small kiss would be enough for their first. Nevertheless, if it was enough, why did it left him tingling, with trembling hands?_

_Because it wasn’t._

_Atsumu captured his lips once again, swallowing Shoyo’s surprised gasp. With his hand still cradling his dream boy’s cheek and lips moving against his, he felt warm all over. It was still soft and sweet, gentle. Shoyo’s arms tightening around his shoulders and the small sigh he let out left him lightheaded with an addictive dizziness. He pulled away from the kiss only to leave small kisses on his bottom lip. He couldn’t get enough. Atsumu rested his forehead on the smaller’s and heard Shoyo giggle. He smiled, and chuckled. They had so much joy building up inside them; they couldn’t help but let it out that way._

_Although Atsumu didn’t want that moment to end, he couldn’t wait for it to happen in the world he often despised, the realm ruled by the sun, where reality took place. He has the feeling that Shoyo can bring everything he’s ever yearned for to his life and he can’t wait to confirm it._

. . .

Wandering around the streets at five in the afternoon was calming, with the breeze blowing and the sun slowly setting behind the horizon, its last rays of lights painting the sky with shades of pink, azure and dark blue. Atsumu has been stressing over a project due two days for about four hours straight, his head started to hurt and his eyes were in pain, therefore, he typed in his laptop a seven-line paragraph and called it a day. Afterwards he grabbed only his keys and went out for a walk, he needed a break and the day outside looked very nice, it was only logical to go out and enjoy it for a while. He walked for several minutes, emptying his mind and relieving his stress. He lifted his gaze to the sky again, noticing a tad of orange hiding behind the pink of the clouds, the color stark against the blue, and grinned at it. His thoughts redirected to Shoyo. Shoyo, Shoyo and more Shoyo. He was everything that Atsumu had in mind, the protagonist of his daydreams and the reason behind his longing sighs. Even now —after hours— he could still feel his lips phantom on his own. ‘I can't be this whipped, can I?’ Atsumu thought to himself. He tapped his pocket, searching for his phone, before he remembered leaving it at home. He doesn't admit it but he's been keeping a folder full of pictures of things Shoyo might like in his camera roll and that sunset would definitely make it into it if he had his phone with him.

He shrugged it off and resumed to his path down the street.

Whilst walking with no apparent destination, he reached a plaza; it had some trees and benches with a pretty fountain on its center. It looked really pretty from afar so he walked towards it, wanting to take a closer look before heading back home. This place gave off a nice feeling, it was peaceful since it wasn't too crowded nor completely deserted, perhaps that was why it was so easy to listen to the voices that rose up from the usual clash of conversations on the streets that simulates the static noise.

“Damn it, Hinata, shut up already! We don't care about how the sky looks.” a boy spoke rather loudly.

“The sky does look pretty, though.” this time a feminine, cute voice could be heard.

“It looks nice, but Hinata is so whipped he can't stop talking about anything as if it's the best thing he's seen.” said the same boy from before.

Atsumu glanced around while keeping his pace but couldn't find the source of the voices. ‘Maybe they're at the other side of the fountain? Just how loud is this people?’ he thought. Then a laugh he was so familiar with —and in fact, a laugh he loved— pierced its way through the noise and echoed inside his chest. Atsumu's blood ran cold and his breath stuck in his throat. This couldn't be happening, right? Was this a dream? He pinched himself on the arm almost hard enough to bruise, nevertheless it didn't feel enough. Would it be too weird if he slapped himself right there where people could see him and judge his nervous breakdown?

“So what if I am? You shut up, Kags.” Shoyo said between laughs. Because Atsumu now knew it was Shoyo, it had to be! There were too many coincidences for it to be a mistake! Moreover, that voice... he could recognize Shoyo's voice and laugh anywhere.

Atsumu looked around again, unable to spot the figure of his dream boy among all those strangers, confirming it was most likely he was at the other side. He turned and hurried towards the fountain, making his way around it with quick steps, never stopping from glancing around in case he could get a glimpse of orange hair form another direction. It wasn't until he was at the other side of the fountain that he saw him. Shoyo was walking beside a taller, dark haired boy and a small girl he kind of recognized as Kageyama and Yachi, from when Shoyo pointed them out on their last dream. The boy walked with his hands behind his head, looking unbothered, unaware of Atsumu's presence behind him.

Atsumu stood there like an idiot and stared, he stared hard, not quite believing his eyes. It was half past five on a Wednesday afternoon, the weather was a little too warm, the sun almost completely below the horizon. It wasn’t an out-of-the-ordinary day; even so, Atsumu was there, looking at the boy he had been seeing in his dreams for the past six months, looking at his soulmate, go on a walk around Tokyo with his friends.

It was the perfect hallucination, though it wasn't an hallucination.

And so Atsumu ran, he ran in this all-too-normal world, across the reality realm, bathing in twilight and pushed forward by the warm breeze. Nobody crossed his path, he ran with all his might, fearing he would be a second too late and everything would vanish, that Shoyo would slip through his fingers again. He stretched his hand out once he saw Shoyo put his down at his sides. He got closer, closer, closer until his fingers closed around the boy's wrist.

It was game over.

Shoyo startled and turned around with his eyes blown wide, he didn't know what he expected to see when he turned around but it definitely wasn't Atsumu holding onto his wrist with unsteady breath and eyes that expressed more than what words ever could. His eyes grew impossibly big. Shoyo's friends looked at them both with surprised expressions, some people around them looked at them weirdly and others didn't even pay them attention. It didn't mattered to them, the world stopped in that second, with them gazing into each other and taking in the situation, realizing it wasn't a dream.

Slowly, a smile blossoms in Shoyo's face until he’s beaming at Atsumu, and he chuckles. The fondness in his voice is almost tangible when he speaks and Atsumu can tell the exact moment his world resets.

“You caught me, Atsumu-san.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!


End file.
